1996 Honda Civic HX a/t slippage

BLUESONLY

MEMBER

1996 HONDA CIVIC

4 CYL

2WD

AUTOMATIC

28,710 MILES

For the past 37k mi tranny has slipped. I have to drive the veh by putting it in neutral approaching stop and red lights. On freeway off-ramps I need to go into neutral, turn eng off then back on after several seconds. Car runs fine. I'm getting 37 1/2 mpg (used to be 43 mpg) and I know it's 12 plus yrs old and even honda said junk it--37k mi ago but the big 300k is fast approaching and I want to make that milestone. Besides, this car ranks with the top 5 "fuel efficient" veh's on the market--some sad progress for 12 yrs by the car companies. Including honda. Is there something more than changing tranny fluid (that doesn't make ANY difference) that can be done? I read of a linear solenoid assy but it doesn't seem to apply to this cvt. Any thoughts.

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Monday, September 15th, 2008 AT 6:59 AM

3 Replies

KHLOW2008

EXPERT

Hi bluesonly,

For CVT it is not easy to know the trans is slipping.
What are the symptoms that you are getting? When did you last replaced the trans fluid and what type was used?

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Thursday, September 18th, 2008 AT 1:40 PM

BLUESONLY

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Fluid was change couple thousand miles ago. This with a heavier fluid. Absolutely no change. I was religious w/ honda brand fluid but at 5.50 a qt X 4.1 qts and given the mileage and replacing the tran screen/filter never has changed conditions. I did have a rather significant hair ball of metal with pencil tip sized metal. As stated originally I can only add that there is a high winding noise associated, that going up any significant upgrade will bog the tranny, not the motor, down, and I have to essentially let off a bit on the gas then go at that slower speed to get up incline. Intersection dead stops it requires giving a tap of the pedal while holding the brake and then I put it into drive. Pretty close to driving a clutch. Around turns at 20 mph or faster the tranny does the bog down thing so I neutral, turn ignition off etc. Sometimes it feels like the trans axles aren't meshing tightly and this is only from dead stops. Otherwise, 37 1/2 mpg, paid for the day I drove it off honda lot and other than routine maint, tires, batteries, etc only set me back with egr problem one summer about $450. Honda said flushing and new fluid wouldn't help. Any ideas?

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Thursday, September 25th, 2008 AT 12:19 PM

KHLOW2008

EXPERT

Hi bluesonly,

We don't seem to be on the same wavelength.

Honda trans is euipped with maintenance free strainers/filters and to replace it you need to disassemble the trans fully.

Thicker fluid? I only know for CVT trans, there is only 1 type of fluid that is recommended and any other fluids would cause damage to the trans.

As to the whining noise, it is quite common in this type of trans.
Causes are wrong type of trans fluid uses and old age.

The increase in consumption could be due to engine related problems. Get it on a diagnbostic to find out if there are any sensors that is functioning out of specs causing the hesitation in engagement and higher fuel consumption.